blue ink #14 (big bags, strikes, gripped-regions and nobody knows where we go)

Hey hey!! My French teacher is on strike so I have an hour of etude! Sweetness. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention- the teachers are going on strike... something to do with the government working them too much or like... not enough classes for special needs or something. This school (and maybe French schools in general) is already known to have teachers just disappear with no explanation, so I guess I'm getting the full cultural experience! That class was pretty useless anyway because its rather hard... I don't really even get anything. Well, sort of. But yeah. In front of the school, there were high schoolers painting signs and resting them against the gates. It was sort of cool. Must have something (everything) to do with the strikes. They were in French, but I think maybe I got what they said. Something about all coming together. My dad brought up the fact that this school was a lot like Community, with students being allowed to go outside and stuff. It'd be cool to get into Community.

I can't believe that when I came back I'll go straight to high school. Scary. So that means I'll have culture shock (again), then have to get used to a new school. Whatever. I should actually do some work... not much to write about really anyway. Oh there was hockey but I'll add that after I guess.

Later, guys.

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They took down the signs by my lunch break, but some people had painted in blue on the pavement YES WE CAN! and some other message in French above it. Zach only had like one class because of the strikes. 

FLE was a ton of fun. We were talking about the passive forms and stuff. According to M. Besson, the French hate to use "on" which is the passive form or something... sort of like "nous" (us) except we don't really have it in English. But I seem to think the French use it a lot. Hmm.

English was also fun- we had to make an adver-tiz-ment (that's how they pronounce it in Britain) to sell some chocolate. Our group was hmm, but there were some very funny jingles. We all cracked up rather hard. And we all got chocolate at the end. It was pretty good.

Ah, hockey... I missed the running warm-up, but didn't get killed. Tina wasn't there (the Canadian captain) but the other guy was. I guess I did o....k..... on the drills, but still need to improve improve improve. Which I guess is why you have practices. We did this one drills where you skate across the rink, stopping on the lines at the sides, and then at the end you get a pass and shoot. So guess what. I missed the friggin' pass. It was RIGHT to me. And of course I had to be the last one, so the WHOLE TEAM saw me miss it. But I didn't care really. Because I mean, just.. just whatever. That's sort of my theme here. And so then we did it again, and I really tried to get the pass, 'cept the guy flipped it up so I couldn't see it and missed it AGAIN. Argh. 

Needless to say, I am not the best at hockey. It's fun, it really can be quite fun. But see, it would just really help if I was with teammates at my same skill level, or at least a little closer. 'Cause I mean, being intimidated and over-challenged and just.. I dunno is not the most fun. Sure, it makes you try harder maybe but like... ugh.

On the way home we listened to the English radio. They played some ok music and stuff. It was nice to listen to your brain's language and not have to try hard to understand. They had a story about this Russian author Vladmir Nabokov, who I had never heard of before. It was interesting!

I have two huge tests on Monday- FLE and Spanish. Spanish is whatever and FLE is yeah ok. 

There were police officers and a detective and a dog checking out this building, because apparently the kidnappers/etc might be in the area. So like, holy crap, man! 

New favorite Coldplay song: God Put a Smile Upon Your Face

"And Zames Bond will eeuh be there to zave us!"

So hockey last night. This time we brought the keys, so we didn't have to turn the neighbors into raving sleepless... um... guitar picks. But. The other locker rooms were all closed so we had to wait for the zamboni guy to finish his job and find me a room. I got to go in this private one, that was labeled something with an a. It had two chairs and like 3 bathrooms. Pretty nice. But I had to suit-up like super duper fast because everyone else was already on the ice. So when I came out I didn't have enough time really do to the usual individual warm-ups. But I still did that a little bit. Then we scrimmaged, which was ok I guess. Except for the fact that I was designated a forward (offense/attack) which is ok, but I'm not the best forward. And plus, it seems like I majorly lag the forecheck on my team because I can't skate as fast. But yeah. The guy that helped me before (still don't know his name) talked to me a little bit. And he also tried to pass to me a few times, but that only brought out my patheticness. He's on the blue line, I'm making my way straight to the net, he passes, I take a pathetic swipe and the puck goes 1 mile an hour, staying on the ice surface. Then the other team gets it. See what I mean? But I guess maybe I can cut myself some slack considering the following facts:

1) this is only my second year of hockey
2) these guys have been playing for longer
3) these guys can skate at least twice as fast as me, shoot at least twice as well as me, etc.
4) I'm new to this league.

Oh hey that's like my second straight list like that. Eh well. Hope it won't be a habit. But yeah. I didn't practice with the girl's team because their practice got like killed (canceled). We don't know if I'll practice with the girl's team because I wouldn't do it on Friday, and maybe the coach wouldn't want a non-full time player. But I mean, the CERN time is ok. If I can learn to play with those guys, high school hockey shouldn't be that hard.

School went ok, as it seems to do these days. I need to start filming my documentary, because I find myself talking to myself when I walk to/from school, like describing stuff. I should work on it like.. nowish.

This might sound like bragging, but I was amazed at what happened. On my math speciales test, I got 19.5 out of 20, which is like... pretty DARN good in this system. I mention this because it doesn't seem like many people (save for them bi-lingual types) get that kind of score in this school. And because that's probably my highest score. It wasn't really a hard test, but yeah whatever.

I came up with a good idea, you guys.

I noticed the Lycee-College International de Ferney-Voltaire (which I from now on will refer to as the LCI or College) doesn't have a school newspaper. And then I thought, hey, I could make like a fake one! So, I plan to write a somewhat joke/fake article about the Cross du College (that 2-hour, around 2-km race next Wed). That'd be pretty cool. Oh and, about the title: in FLE, Monsieur Besson spent a while telling us about the Cross du College, and someone asked if how they would know where to run. And then Monsieur Besson exaggerated, saying "Oh zair will be eh.. helicoptairs and polise cahrs and Zames Bond to zave us!" It was pretty funny.

And I'll also try to write about other stuff with the school too. So yeah. It'd like to get into Community and write for the Communicator. I read an issue once and it was friggin' GOOD. So yeah.

Fat Friday tomorrow. And it's Alien Night (Aliens Strike Back) which is supposed to be really gnarly.

Here's your Random Question every once in a while-
Is mainstream stuff even that good? (Mainstream, in this case, referring to those somewhat over-marketed, over-hyped stuff...)

Wow, Rianna- what a math teacher.

That's the Way We Get By

Have you ever had an Asian physicist that you just met that calls you Amy tell you to "go! go! go!"? Well, whenever the time comes; should that ever come to happen, it means you have to go. Go go. As in, get off the bench. And onto the ice. So that's what I did.

I had two straight hours of hockey practice last night. The girl's team was... was. A few people knew English. There were a lot of teenage girls, so I was somewhat intimidated. But hey wait. Aren't I a teenage girl? Oh yeah. But anyway. We ran for a few minutes around the rink then did stretches and those infamous butt kicks, and stuff.

I sat next to Tina in the locker room. Tina, if I didn't already tell you guys, is like the person that runs the team... sort of. She's the Captain of the team, is Canadian, and called us about me joining. She's nice I guess. And then also there was this other girl/young woman who was nice. She talked to me a little bit before running and stuff. Pretty much everyone knew French. Some didn't know any English.

And then it turned out it was also team picture day. So I had to change my jersey twice or so. I was located on the left. Well, right when you look at the picture. But it was sort of weird because I mean, I might not be on that team really. But anyway. The team had a mascot; some guy wore this huge like... doll thing. The team is called the Demoniaks. The logo sports something like a rabid doll. The website is in French, I must "warn" you though.

Hockey is a tough sport. If you didn't already know. There was this main coach guy who spoke French but knew some English. He was pretty nice, actually. We had to wear practice jerseys. Mine was yellow. There were 3 other yellows. I later learned the colors were for the different lines.
So anyway, here's an excerpt of what was going through my head/was slightly whispered occasionally during practice:

OH MY GOD. I suck I suck I suck I suck I suck. What WAS that?!?!?! That was like not even... no. UGH how did I miss that pass?!??! What is wrong with me?!?!? I suck I suck I suck.

I say that a lot to myself. And there's a reason. Because see, I do miss passes. I make stupid mistakes. Which cause me to come to the conclusion that: I suck at hockey, and/or my teammates think I suck at hockey. I guess you could say I'm pretty hard on myself on hockey. But at least when I make a mistake I know I did and insult myself right?

Well actually. Maybe that isn't a uh.... good thing.... but whatever. The drills weren't really even that hard, but it takes me awhile to get drills. And I don't really get when the coach uses that white board. With the X's and O's stuff. So I made many many many mistakes on the drills, even on the easy ones. Eventually the coach guy saw that some of the drills were too complicated for me so he put me with this other line doing this more simple drill. Even then I took a while to do the drill right. Sigh.

But it wasn't that bad, I guess. At the end, that one other lady that was nice asked me if practice was too hard or too easy. I almost laughed in my head. How could that be easy? I told her it was sort of hard. But it was ok. Then I stayed for the CERN practice, which was awesome.

There were a lot of new people. At the end the coach said we weren't allowed to invite more people. As I mentioned earlier, there was that Asian guy. He was ok though. But being not called by your name is annoying. Very irksome. We scrimmaged. My dad played goalie again. He needs to work on his five hole. That one guy that last time talked to me a little bit (I still don't know his name) told me what I was doing was good. He was on the other team, but while I was playing he said I should keep doing what I was doing. So cool. He gave me the advice, "keep your head up and don't panic". Good advice I say.

It's weird though, because on the faceoffs I play left wing, then in the offensive zone I play defense, but then defensive zone I'm sort of both... I guess I prefer defense.

In a way I like the CERN team better. Well, maybe that's just because I've been going to it more. As I step on the bench for the next line, I recieve the occasional head pat, knee pat and/or stick-butt pat. Which is like... acceptance. Well, that's assuming those are encouraging gestures. As opposed to negative ones.

After practice the guys drank beer. No drunkness, don't worry. Then the nice guy told me about the best hockey player in France. He was the guy wearing a Los Angeles Kings jersey, and he WAS really good.

We got home at around midnight as usual. But I wasn't even that tired. It was dark, and when you inhaled it was that thick, warm and soothing air. It would've been a really awesome night. "Would've" is the key word here. And "key" is the key word for that last sentence.

It turned out we didn't take a front door key. Which meant ringing our apartment constantly for 10 minutes, while calling with my dad's cell phone. Which also meant waiting with two large hockey bags in the morning in a strange, hard place. But eventually this French guy came. So he opened the door and we all fit in the elevator. He knew English. Then we had the wrong key for the apartment. Which meant more of the same: ringing the doorbell constantly while calling the phone. That doorbell was loud, mind you. LOUD. You could hear it from pretty far away. So the neighbors must hate us. And then every few minutes it would turn pitch black and I'd have to turn on the lights again. Eventually, my mom came. Apparently Zach had heard the noises, but didn't think about them much. So... ok? Yeah that was sort of our fault. Yeah we should've brought a key. But yeah we can learn from our mistakes.

Today was picture day. I was right in the middle of my class picture in the front row. I hate being "short". Then we took individual pictures.

In English, we got these like test packet things. Purple. They say "SATS" on them, but I don't think they're for the SAT. We have to read short stories/texts for a timed amount, then answer questions for a timed duration. I hate timed things. I hate competition. I hate tests. Why does school have to be so focused on tests??!! What about learning?!??! My full (or partially full) thoughts on that subject can be read in a future post.

I've decided again to start complaining. Well, not complain really. But on the way home I decided to make a music video or something. Like, a documentary on this trip. Which seems like a good idea. I'd have to do it on a break though. And where did my trumpet inspiration go?!?! I was almost unenthusiastic to practice it today. But yeah.

And then, suddenly, Stop and Stare started playing. And when that chorus came, what happened was what I have described several times before. It has to do with complaining.

Let it be known that I am now like obsessed with Crosby, Stills and Nash. And Spoon.

If you love a friend (as a friend) you should tell them that. And never take them for granted. And hugs are good, too. Way under-rated.

(Yeah that's right, I'm talking to YOU, Albert. And Ms. Bad-at-flirting if you read my blog. And Jenners and Yu.)

Hockey blogging and a whole bunch of snotty tissues

I'm staying home from school today. It's 11:08, so I've missed my 2 hours of French and now the first hour of etude. But really I'm just going to miss a few FLE lessons, Spanish and math. Not so bad. I sort of got better, but I think it's good that I'm staying home. I mean, this way, the other kids won't be at risk, I can fully get better, whereas if I went to school I could get more germs. And I am pretty tired. My brain is sluggish. And, quite frankly, sometimes it's good to take a break from such a school that makes Slauson look like elementary school. In other words, its good to take a break from a school you pretty much hate.

I went to bed early, after failing to take a pill. I dunno why, but I just cannot take pills. My body just says "no" or whatever. It sort of sucks. But I did use this nostril spray stuff that cleared my nose a little. When I woke up I felt really sluggish. The kind where you can go into the kitchen to get a bowl of cereal but end up like staring at the spoon in your hand for a few minutes before you finally realize what you're doing. I read my USA Hockey Magazine while eating and it was cool. I use the pictures after I read them to make like collages and stuff. So its cool. It had this article in it, which was actually quite interesting. Even for you not-exactly-hockey-fan people. According to Ted Leonsis (see article),

A blog can be entertaining, it can be informational, and it can be enlightening. But the most important part of a blog is that it can be activating. It allows others to look at your thoughts and follow your life and then launch their own ideas, comments and perspectives on what you've seen and done. In short, your personal blog is a way to leave your footprints in the sand.

Along with that article, they gave us a list of 10 great hockey blogs. I'll add some of them in the blogs area I s'pose.

I guess I should be doing my homework shouldn't I? I have like... math, Spanish, English and chemistry. Sigh. I've been using a TON of tissues. I have huge piles around everywhere. 9 months doesn't seem that long. 3/4 of a year. Only 3 seasons really. And life goes on, you know? Time happens. Crap happens.

I might be back with another post today, 'cause I'll probably be bored. And writing (blogging) is a good outlet. Hope you guys don't get sick. I like sneezing sometimes though.

RED WINGS WIN STANLEY cUP!!!!!!!!!!!

I STAYED UP TILL MIDNIGHT WATCHING!!! AWESOMEAWESOMEAWESOME!!!
YES!!!!!!! WE WON!! WE WON!!!!!!!!!YES!
The pens almost, almost scored at the end but there wasn't enough time.
AFTER FOLLOWING THIS TEAM FOR LIKE 2 YEARS THEY FINALLY WON!
AND ZETTERBERG GOT THE CONN SMYTHE TROPHY!!!!!!!
I AM SO HAPPY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
IF THAT AIN'T BLISS, I DON'T KNOW WHAT IS.

Hockey

I am a huge, HUGE hockey fan. I play tons of street hockey and am getting very good at it. My favorite team is the Detroit Red Wings, but I have many others. I also like: Montreal Canadiens, Pittsburgh Penguins, Vancouver Canucks, Boston Bruins, New York Islanders, Buffalo Sabres, New Jersey Devils, and Toronto Maple Leafs. To a lesser extent, I root for Philadelphia Flyers, St. Louis Blues, Atlanta Thrashers and Minnesota Wild. My favorite player is Shawn Burr; he was a defensive forward for Detroit (around the '80's) and San Jose.

For the Stanley Sup Finals this year, I'm going to have to go with Detroit. Pittsburgh has what it takes to win, but just not this year. Crosby will get a Cup, probably next season but I think Chris Osgood will be strong enough to maneuver through the star-laden Penguins to help Lidtrom hoist his first Cup as a captain. GO WINGS!!!!